Thinking outside the box: Novel strategies to treat viral infections and cancers

This project is suitable for Master or PhD Students.

Background

The control of viral infections and cancers is reliant on a well-functioning and organized immune system. Natural killer (NK) and cytotoxic T cells are the primary immune cells responsible for killing virus-infected and tumour cells. However, uncontrolled virus replication and cancer growth result in dysfunction of these immune cells and lead to disease progression.

Aims

This project aims to discover new targets that can activate or enhance dysfunctional immune cells and boost their ability to fight against diseases. The study will use genetically modified mouse strains, specifically gene knockout, to investigate the role of specific molecules in regulating immune cell functions and their impact on viral and tumour control. The molecules that demonstrate potential will undergo further examination in human immune cells to translate these findings into human disease settings.

Methods

1. Preclinical mouse models for viral infection and cancer- animal handling, adoptive cell immunotherapy or drug treatments.
2. Engineering immunotherapeutic drugs- Developing CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T or NK cell products from human blood samples and assessing their antitumour efficacy in vivo using mouse models and in vitro utilizing immunological techniques such as flow cytometry, immune cell activation or killing assays.
3. Gene editing/overexpression technology: Knocking out (CRISPR/Cas9-based) or overexpressing (lentivirus-based) genes in human immune cells to assess their antiviral and antitumour potential for therapeutic purposes.
4. Other techniques: Bacterial work including plasmid transformation, amplification and purification, and mammalian cell transfection with plasmids for lentivirus generation. qPCR, RNA-seq and western blot will also be utilized to identify the impact of manipulated molecules on different immune pathways.

Project Potential

Identification of novel targetable molecules could lead to the development of therapeutic drugs for cancer and viral infection treatment.